Humpback Whale

738 images

Humpback Whale - Stock Photo Gallery

The humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is perhaps one of the most recognizable and popular whales among the public simply due to its easier accessibility as they migrates to coastal waters, and of course, its spectacular breaching behavior.

The humpback whale is a baleen whale which has brush or bristle like plates in their mouth for filter-feeding food instead of teeth. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 40-50 ft (12-16 meters) and weigh...more »

The humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is perhaps one of the most recognizable and popular whales among the public simply due to its easier accessibility as they migrates to coastal waters, and of course, its spectacular breaching behavior.

The humpback whale is a baleen whale which has brush or bristle like plates in their mouth for filter-feeding food instead of teeth. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 40-50 ft (12-16 meters) and weigh approximately 79,000 lb (36,000 kilograms ). The humpback whale has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in courtship and mating. Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 15,000 miles (25,000 kilometers) each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the spectacular bubble net feeding technique

Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Due to over-hunting, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a whaling moratorium was introduced in 1966. Stocks of the species have since partially recovered; however, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution also remain concerns. There are at least 70,000 humpback whales worldwide. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpbacks are now sought out by whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia and the United States.« less